we know the expectations on the economy if we go over the fiscal cliff, that the economy will see a contraction of a couple of percentage points. where are you on earnings for 2013, what are your expectations? >> maria, look at the s&p numbers, looking for a slow single digit percentage gains. for this period of the fourth quarter looking for gains in telecommunications and financials. i think the critical part, investors ought to be very keen just to weigh in the risk, you know, and the fact they had a very rewarding year in 2012, we were up about 12% on the s&p 500. earnings will be very much held captive by the fact that the uncertainty not only about the fiscal cliff but debt ceiling. >> very quickly, john, we're lose altitude in this market rapidly. what do you make of this, and what are you expecting to close here? >> just shows you how fragile our markets r.one comment out of washington can take profits off the table intraday. we'll hold on to our gains here. >> thanks, everybody. we appreciate it. where exactly do we stand in these fiscal cliff negotiations in the latest now from our jo